Earlier this year, I wrote about nostalgic kids magazines, ranging from publications that had short print lives to those which are still published on a regular basis. The focus was on magazines for those in the tween and younger demographics, though many readers shared their fondness for teen magazines of their youth. It only made sense to dig into some of those nostalgic teen magazines, too.
Some of these teen magazines are still being published, either in print or digitally. Others ceased operation completely or pivoted to online-only. This will be an incomplete list but one that should tap the nostalgia button for readers who loved their monthly or semi-monthly subscriptions or trips to the corner store for the latest edition.
Teen Beat Off Magazine Issue 4 Pdf | Updated
Running for almost ten years, CosmoGirl! launched in 1999 and folded in 2008. Fashion and celebrities were the focus of this teen-geared spinoff magazine of Cosmopolitan, and each edition featured photos and an interview with a celebrity, beauty, and fashion tips. Like so many teen magazines of the era, there was a section devoted to reader-submitted embarrassing moments, as well as features on mental health, sexual health, and more.
Focused on reaching tween and teen girls, J-14 launched in January 1999 with the goal to cover celebrities. The magazine is still active today, publishing monthly editions that cover young Hollywood, quizzes, fashion, posters, and more.
Not to be confused with the long-running manga magazine line, Jump launched in 1996 and ran through 2001. Its focus was once again tween and teen girls, as so many other teen monthlies at the time, but what made Jump stand out was its focus on teens interested in an active lifestyle. It was packed with stories of sports, with workout ideas, as well as fashion, beauty, and quizzes.
Many believe Right On! to be the first magazine in the U.S. to cater to Black teens, offering celebrity news and gossip like cousins Bop and Tiger Beat. The monthly publication aimed to keep a positive tone and highlighted musicians, athletes, and business people alongside film and television celebrities.
What made Sassy stand out was that it took a slightly off-centered approach to content and style. It was bolder than other teen magazines and covered politics alongside fashion, culture alongside celebrities, and more. Once a year, Sassy also devoted an entire issue to its readers, who would write, design, and edit the issue cover to cover.
Teen Vogue may be one of the most respected teen magazines in recent memory, particularly as it has come to be a place for hard-hitting and cutting edge work on politics and social justice. Launched in January 2003 as a spinoff to the adult Vogue, it was initially a fashion and beauty magazine, but it has expanded to include current affairs and more.
Tiger Beat launched in September 1965 and its print operations ended in December 2018. But never fear: teens (and not-so-teens) who love teen idols, gossip, movies, music, and entertainment can access all of the goodness of the magazine on their active website.
In 1932, two magazines existed that would form YM: Compact, meant for older teens, and Calling All Girls, for tweens and younger teens. Calling All Girls has been cited as the beginning of the teen magazine staple of embarrassing reader-submitted stories. By the 1960s, the magazines came together to become Young Miss, and in the 1980s, YM began to stand for Young and Modern. It saw its final name change in 2000, when it became Your Magazine.
For more great reading about teen magazines past and present, explore this piece on the rise and fall of teen magazines at The Hairpin, the history of teen idol magazines at Mental Floss, and this fabulous piece about how teen magazines have always been about more than fashion in The Washington Post.
An exciting free online magazine for children aged 7+, linked to the Alya The Pathmaker Book by Yasemin Allsop. Each issue contains a diverse wealth of science, STEM, humanities, and coding activities.
Teen magazines are magazines aimed at teenage readers. They usually consist of gossip, news, fashion tips and interviews and may include posters, stickers, small samples of cosmetics or other products and inserts.
The teen magazine industry is overwhelmingly female-oriented. Several publications, such as Teen Ink and Teen Voices, cater to both male and female audiences, although publications specifically targeting teenage boys are rare.[1] Many scholars have critiqued teen magazines, as the topics presented are narrow and only present a limited range of female roles, some believe that they are effective because of the relationship developed between magazine and reader. There is a distinct feminine space that is made by the text itself as editors of teen magazines focus on making the content of their text appropriate to the analytical ability of their readers.
Teen magazines first gained prominence in the United States during the 1940s, with Seventeen magazine being the first known publication geared towards a demographic of teenage girls.[2] Examples of popular magazines during that time include Sassy, YM, CosmoGirl, Teen, and Teen People. Nowadays, popular contemporary American teen magazines include Seventeen, Teen Vogue, J-14, and Tiger Beat.
Since 1972, teen magazines in the United States have reached out to the African-American market with publications such as Right On! (produced by Sterling-McFadden, which also produces Tiger Beat) and Word Up!.
Although in the United States, adolescence is generally considered to be the period between the ages 11 and 19, and teen magazines usually cater to people within that range, many readers comprise an even wider age range.[4] According to a 2006 report by Magazine Publishers of America, 78% of teens read magazines.[5] Of the media that adolescents refer to for information about sex, teen magazines are particularly important because they influence knowledge, attitudes, and values about sex and sexuality, especially for teenage girls.[6]
According to Amy S. Pattee, author of The Developmental Appropriateness of Teen Magazines, the experience of reading teen magazines can result in heavy psychological impacts on their readers. The covers and content of the latest teen magazines promise adolescent girls dates, beauty, and success.[7] Compared to the rich superstar singer, and the skinniest model shown and praised in the magazine, the reader is most likely to be left with a negative self-image and a heavy desire to aspire to be just like the women they read about.
While some teen magazines focus almost exclusively on music and film stars, others feature more extensive coverage of lifestyle issues and are virtually junior versions of magazines such as Cosmopolitan or Cleo. Cosmopolitan is more focused on readers between the ages of 18-25, whereas Seventeen and Teen Vogue are geared towards teenagers and focus more on the bubbly teen gossip, celebrity culture, and newly stated trends on fashion and beauty.
In recent years, rapid technological advancement and the rise of the Internet has led to the emergence of online teen magazines. Examples include Faze in Canada, which is published in both web and print versions, and Rookie, an independently run online magazine and book series founded in 2011 by Editor-in-Chief Tavi Gevinson, which publishes writing, photography, and other forms of artwork by and for teenagers. With a digital format, the accessibility of teen magazines has also greatly increased, reaching readers from a diverse range of backgrounds and nationalities.
In the UK, sales in the teen magazine sector peaked in 1998. Teenagers had many more attractions competing for their cash and their attention, such as media delivered on the web and through mobile phones. Also, the booming celebrity weeklies attracted more teens from ever-younger ages (driven by celebrity TV series). In response to this, in April 2007, National Magazines - publisher of Cosmopolitan and Cosmo Girl! - launched a digital weekly magazine for teens, Jellyfish, in a trial. This was the second attempt in the UK to establish a new online business model, the first being Monkey from Dennis, which aims to sell to men aged 18 to 34. In both cases, readers sign up to be sent the 'eMag' by email. Each issue features interactive elements and 'pages' that can be 'turned'. However, National Magazines closed Cosmo Girl! in June and the Jellyfish experiment was drawn to a close in August.
The experience of reading teen magazines can result in heavy psychological impacts on their readers. The covers and content of the latest teen magazines promise adolescent girls dates, beauty, and success[8] As teen magazines are full of images of society's definition of physical perfection, compared to the rich superstar singer, and the skinniest model shown and praised in the magazine, the reader is left with a negative self-image and a heavy desire to aspire to be just like the women they read about.
Teen magazines overtly suggest through content and pictures, how women should look, dress, and act; they more subtly suggest, through exclusion of pictures and content what women should not do, be, or think.[9] The teen magazine, with its images of corporeal perfection and promises of social success, can be seen as evidence of a social ideal to which developing teens may aspire when reading the magazine. Self-development is influenced by an individual's alignment with a social group.[10] Such identification may lead an adolescent to form a mirror group, or clique of her own. As teens seek refuge in a socially safe category; teen magazines in particular offer monthly images of social promise.
Research shows that teen magazines are also having cultural impacts on its readers. Kelley Massoni, author of Modeling Work, considers teen magazines as a possible source for girl's perceptions about the work world, including their own career futures. The labor market in Seventeen-land is heavily skewed towards professional occupations, particularly in the entertainment industry.[12] A close reading of the text reveals four primary messages about the world of work: entertainment careers are a viable and prestigious option, men are the norm as workers, men hold the power, and fashion modeling is the pinnacle of "women's work". 2ff7e9595c
Comments